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Aeneas Or Numa? Rethinking the Meaning of the Ara Pacis Augustae Aeneas or Numa? Rethinking the Meaning of the Ara Pacis Augustae Paul Rehak The Art Bulletin, Vol. 83, No. 2. (Jun., 2001), pp. 190-208. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0004-3079%28200106%2983%3A2%3C190%3AAONRTM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-O The Art Bulletin is currently published by College Art Association. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/about/terms.html. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/journals/caa.html. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. The JSTOR Archive is a trusted digital repository providing for long-term preservation and access to leading academic journals and scholarly literature from around the world. The Archive is supported by libraries, scholarly societies, publishers, and foundations. It is an initiative of JSTOR, a not-for-profit organization with a mission to help the scholarly community take advantage of advances in technology. For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. http://www.jstor.org Mon Nov 19 21:06:19 2007 Aeneas or Numa? Rethinking the Meaning of the Ara Pacis Augustae Paul Rehak For the modern world, the Ara Pacis Augustae (Altar of The Composition and Iconography of the Panel Augustan Peace) has come to symbolize the artistic, political, In general, the composition on the Ara Pacis relief conforms and social achievements of the early Roman Empire, just as to an established Roman type, derived from Hellenistic rep- the Parthenon at Athens has for Classical ~reece.'Con- resentations, with a central altar flanked by one or more structed between 13 and 9 B.C.E. in the northern Campus sacrificants along with the animal victim and attendants, who Martius in Rome, the altar was closely associated with a giant enter from one side.8 The altar may be cylindrical or cubical sundial, the Horologium-Solarium (Fig. 1).Architecturally, or stand on tripod legs; the officiating individuals usually the Ara Pacis conflates two types of structure: a Greek form of have their heads veiled (capite velato) and hold a shallow altar raised on a high podium, and an enclosing rectangular offering bowl (patera)for pouring libations; at least one assis- screen wall that resembles a Roman janus with doorways in its tant leads or urges on the animal victim while others carry east and west facades.' Beginning in the sixteenth century, trays of offerings or hold ritual equipment. The presence and the remains of the monument were excavated in several number of spectators vary. Architectural elements, vegeta- campaigns; since the 1930s the reconstituted structure has tion, or other landscape features are sometimes added in the been on public display in its own protective shell, now being background to suggest generic settings or specific locations. replaced by a new one, designed by Richard Meier, which So standard is this iconography that it can be considered an should be completed late in 2002.3 Because of its relatively artistic topos, whose specific meaning depends on the iden- complete state of preservation and the high quality of its tity of the "cast of characters" and other details." extensive sculptural decoration, the Ara Pacis has overshad- Since much recent discussion of the Ara Pacis panel has proceeded from the premise that its subject has already been owed other monuments, like the Forum of Augustus, that determined, it seems worthwhile to begin instead with a perhaps have an equal or better claim to represent Augus- closer examination of the relief itself before moving on to tus's pin~i~ate.~Nevertheless, we use the Ara Pacis confi- wider interpretations (Fig. 3). The visual focus of the relief is dently as one of the primary structures for viewing Augustan the central rustic altar in the foreground, carved to represent Rome, even though our understanding of the monument is rough, unworked stones that have been piled up and draped far from secure. with a garland of laurel leaves. The trunk of an oak tree with In 1907, Johannes Sieveking proposed that the southern foliage rises behind the altar, dividing the scene into two panel relief on the west end of the screen surrounding the unequal parts. Within each part, the compositional elements Ara Pacis represented the sacrifice of a brood sow by the differ: the two foreground figures to the right of the altar are Trojan hero and Roman ancestor Aeneas, following his ar- nearly as tall as the relief is high, they do not overlap one rival in Latium (Fig. 2) .5 Three ancient authors, Virgil, Di- another, and together they occupy more than half the width onysios of Halikarnassos, and Varro, provide versions of this of the panel. To the left of the altar the elements are com- story that seem to correspond with details presented on the pressed and set in at least three overlapping planes of relief: relief. For nearly a century, archaeologists and historians of in the foreground a sow, in the middle distance the two ancient art have accepted this identification almost without attendants, and in the background a low hill surmounted by question and have used the scene as a keystone in attempts to a temple. discover the meaning of the mon~ment.~The composition, Of the four human figures on the relief, the sacrificant to carved over two joining blocks, focuses on a rustic garlanded the right of the altar is the most prominent because of his altar in front of a tree. At the right are two adult men, both position near the center and the frontal pose of his body. He holding staffs;' at the left are two younger individuals, one of is a mature, barefoot, and bearded man in archaic costume, whom leads a sow toward the altar. In the background at the toga sine tunica, which leaves most of his chest and right upper left we can see a small temple whose open end frames shoulder and arm bare. Pliny tells us that the statues of the two seated male divinities within. The adult nearest the altar early kings of Rome erected on the Capitoline were similarly is usually identified as the sacrificant, Aeneas, preparing to garbed.10 The sacrificant wears the toga capite uelato over a offer the animal to the Penates, accompanied by the second laurel wreath, traits shared on the other remains of the adult figure, either his son Iulus/Ascanius or his companion monument only by Augustus in the south frieze. Although he Achates. possesses a muscular, classicizing body, his torso has begun to The purpose of this article is to question the traditional thicken, indicating that he is middle-aged." His deep-set eye identification of the scene. I will then propose a new and and pronounced naso-labial fold agree with this assessment. different interpretation of the way this one relief relates to Stylistically, the loose, shaggy locks of the sacrificant's hair, the sculptural program of the Ara Pacis as a whole, to Augus- including the beard, and slightly parted lips are features that tus's use of art and history, and to modern art historical seem characteristic of Hellenistic sculpture; like much Au- theory and methodology. gustan art, this figure draws from several sources. Similar 1 Ara Pacis and Horologium- Solarium, northern Campus Martius, Rome, reconstruction drawing (author, after Edmund Buchner) features characterize the relief head of Aion (Eternity) on the young, armored, and often beardless.'' The characteristic slightly earlier Zoilos Monument from Aphrodisias in Asia depiction of Aeneas shows the pious warrior who carries his Minor (Fig. 4).12 Since representations of middle age are aged father and leads his young son out of Troy on the night uncommon on the Ara Pacis, where youthful and idealized it fell.'' This iconography, already well established through- faces are the rule, the maturity of our figure seems a distinct out central Italy by the fourth century B.C.E. in a variety of characteristic of his identity.'' media, continued well into the Roman Imperial period. He In the crook of his left arm he cradles a long staff, probably was represented in this guise, for example, in one of the a scepter, since a spear would be inappropriate for a togatus sculptural assemblages in the hemicycles of the Forum of (figure draped in a toga) at a sacrifice,14and he extends his Augustus; this statue has not survived, but a wall painting right hand (now missing) over the altar. Originally, he may from Pompeii and several sculptural copies or adaptations have been pouring a libation from a patera, as is common in allow us to imagine how it may have looked.lg A similar similar sacrifice scenes belonging to this iconographic topos. sculptural group served as an acrota'um atop the major tem- A number of other paterae appear elsewhere in the decoration ple of Augustus's cult in Rome, the templum novum divi Au- of the Ara pacis.15 gusti, begun .by Tiberius after his predecessor's death in 14 Although Virgil's Aeneas was once instructed to veil his C.E. and dedicated by Caligula in 37 c.E., at which time the head for a sacrifice,16 the rest of the sacrificant's representa- building was also depicted on coins.20 tion on the relief is inconsistent with the usual iconography To explain the differences between the standard iconog- of Aeneas in the late Republic and early Imperial period as raphy of Aeneas and the individual on the Ara Pacis relief, 4 Zoilos Monument, head of Aion, Aphrodisias (photo: New branches have been trimmed away.*' The long sleeve in- York University Excavations at Aphrodisias) dicates that he is not a Roman, and the position of his shoulder-almost level with that of the sacrificant-shows that he must be an adult.
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